The Spirit in the time of the Church

The Church’s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament, writes Cathal Barry

The Church teaches that on the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: Of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance (Acts 2:33-36).

On that day, according to the Church, the Holy Trinity is fully revealed. The Church holds that since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in him. By his coming, the Catechism states: “The Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not yet consummated.”

John’s Gospel asserts that “God is Love” and love is his first gift, containing all others. “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5).

The Church teaches that because we are dead or at least wounded through sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. It is believed that the communion of the Holy Spirit in the Church restores to the baptised the divine likeness lost through sin.

He then, according to the Church, gives us the “pledge” or “first fruits” of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity, which is to love as “God (has) loved us”. This love, according to Church teaching, is the source of the new life in Christ, made possible because we have received “power” from the Holy Spirit.

In the words of St Basil: “Through the Holy Spirit we are restored to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of Heaven, and adopted as children, given confidence to call God ‘Father’ and to share in Christ’s grace, called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.”

It is believed that the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

This joint mission brings Christ’s faithful to share in his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares men and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them, recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his death and resurrection. He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God that they may “bear much fruit” (Jn 15:8, 16).

Thus the Church’s mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.